The present invention relates to a powder slush molding device that forms a film by combining a reservoir holding a resin powder material and a mold maintained at a high temperature.
In conventional powder slush molding devices, a mold, maintained at a high temperature, is attached to a reservoir and rotated or shaken. This causes resin powder material located in the reservoir to spread out completely into the mold. A film is formed by the resin powder material melting, due to contact with the hot mold, until a prescribed thickness is achieved.
During the formation of the film, a portion of the melted resin powder material adheres to a connecting section between a sealing member of the reservoir and the mold. Because the sealing member is hot, some of the resin powder that adheres to it, solidifies and forms fused debris. The debris initially may be string-like, having dimensions of approximately 30 cm-1 m. The debris mixes with the resin powder material. The rotation and the shaking may change the shape of the debris. For example, some of the debris may clump together, or become rolled into clumps, etc. The shape of the debris is immaterial to the present invention.
During repeated molding operations, this debris that has been mixed in the resin powder is exposed to high temperatures and is quickly carbonized. The carbonized product can float up and adhere to the surface of the molded film, cosmetically damaging the film. Thus, after a prescribed interval or a prescribed number of molding operations, the resin powder material must be removed from the reservoir and the debris must be removed with a comb.
This operation of removing debris after a prescribed interval or a prescribed number of molding operations requires the interruption of production. Also, since the cleaning must be performed manually, the operation requires many steps. Furthermore, since the powder material must be cleaned with a comb, the resulting dust fumes could be a health hazard.